Trouble logging in?We were forced to invalidate all account passwords. You will have to reset your password to login. If you have trouble resetting your password, please send us a message with as much helpful information as possible, such as your username and any email addresses you may have used to register. Whatever you do, please do not create a new account. That is not the right solution, and it is against our forum rules to own multiple accounts.

To be late to answer a post on page 16, yes I have. =D. I frequently see people eating it with peanut butter as well. But yes, I'm jealous of your skills. More now then ever, since I'm spending the next 2 years living by myself. I wish I had a roommate who could cook like you.

Lol, I had to go back to page 16 cause I can't remember the post. But thanks for the compliment!

No one is born a genius chef. Even those with talent need practice.Since you are living the next 2 years on your own, you will need to brush up your cooking skill (assuming you rarely cook). Speaking from my own experience, it saves a lot of money when you cook yourself, and plus, it's better for your body. I once forced myself to buy canned food/fast food/instant noodle(not that it's dirt cheap, but it was more affordable than weekly grocery) because I ran out of money ( I "accidentally" spent most of my allowance on external drive.). That period was one of the worst that I can remember. I feel unhealthy, lazy, and bloated.

__________________

A politically ignorant person who embraces only hedonism as the main philosophical doctrine.

If you ever find yourself in the Los Angeles area and have a bit of time on your hands AND you have a hankerin to visit a British pub, get yourself down the Santa Monica and visit Ye Olde King's Head British Pub.

Lol, I had to go back to page 16 cause I can't remember the post. But thanks for the compliment!

No one is born a genius chef. Even those with talent need practice.Since you are living the next 2 years on your own, you will need to brush up your cooking skill (assuming you rarely cook). Speaking from my own experience, it saves a lot of money when you cook yourself, and plus, it's better for your body. I once forced myself to buy canned food/fast food/instant noodle(not that it's dirt cheap, but it was more affordable than weekly grocery) because I ran out of money ( I "accidentally" spent most of my allowance on external drive.). That period was one of the worst that I can remember. I feel unhealthy, lazy, and bloated.

If you get a decent recipe book, it's pretty easy to cook well. Cooking is pretty straightforward most of the time.

Lol, I had to go back to page 16 cause I can't remember the post. But thanks for the compliment!

No one is born a genius chef. Even those with talent need practice.Since you are living the next 2 years on your own, you will need to brush up your cooking skill (assuming you rarely cook). Speaking from my own experience, it saves a lot of money when you cook yourself, and plus, it's better for your body. I once forced myself to buy canned food/fast food/instant noodle(not that it's dirt cheap, but it was more affordable than weekly grocery) because I ran out of money ( I "accidentally" spent most of my allowance on external drive.). That period was one of the worst that I can remember. I feel unhealthy, lazy, and bloated.

I'm wondering what do you usually eat for lunch? For the past year or so, I skipped lunch entirely on weekdays and I've never eaten breakfast routinely. I'm moving to the healthier side of things after a horrific past year. On weekends sometimes I was cheap enough to eat for cereal breakfast, lunch, and dinner which ended up doing a number of my digestive system for the following week.

I was thinking of packing a hot lunch waking up early in the morning before I headed off to class. I am not fond of campus food.

I'm wondering what do you usually eat for lunch? For the past year or so, I skipped lunch entirely on weekdays and I've never eaten breakfast routinely. I'm moving to the healthier side of things after a horrific past year. On weekends sometimes I was cheap enough to eat for cereal breakfast, lunch, and dinner which ended up doing a number of my digestive system for the following week.

I was thinking of packing a hot lunch waking up early in the morning before I headed off to class. I am not fond of campus food.

To be late to answer a post on page 16, yes I have. =D. I frequently see people eating it with peanut butter as well. But yes, I'm jealous of your skills. More now then ever, since I'm spending the next 2 years living by myself. I wish I had a roommate who could cook like you.

You'll have a great opportunity during that time to develop your cooking skills. And not every meal has to be something special or with extra effort put into it. You can learn to better cook up chicken, pork, and beef and serve it with some vegetables and a starchy side. If you decide to make something that takes more effort than a very ordinary meal, you can sometimes make a big batch of it and then eat the left overs the next day; perhaps even the day after that and the day after that one. Depends on how big of a batch you make. You can also make some foods that freeze well and reheat well from a frozen state. I hear if you make your own perogies, they can be cooked just fine from there, and I hear the same about sloppy joes. Just freeze the sloppy joe meat and sauce, heat it up in a pan, and then it'll be fit for a bun in no time.

Like DonQ said, get a cookbook. One of the best selling ones in North America is The Joy of Cooking. It has been around for decades (with several new editions over the years). Also, when you have to start cooking for yourself, look around the internet for recipe sites and food sites that offer tips and articles on how to better cook and prepare meals.

If he doesn't live in Ireland, it might be hard for him to find brown soda bread. I would think that many supermarkets don't have it. I will check my supermarket's bakery section, but I haven't come across it there after shopping there for more than four years.

Maybe he could substitute it with some bread commonly found in America. Maybe some marbled rye, or perhaps multigrain bread (for pre-sliced bread), or perhaps he can find some sour dough loaves where he can cut his own slices.

If he doesn't live in Ireland, it might be hard for him to find brown soda bread. I would think that many supermarkets don't have it. I will check my supermarket's bakery section, but I haven't come across it there after shopping there for more than four years.

Maybe he could substitute it with some bread commonly found in America. Maybe some marbled rye, or perhaps multigrain bread (for pre-sliced bread), or perhaps he can find some sour dough loaves where he can cut his own slices.

It's really not the same. Other breads are far too sweet and soft. Brown Soda Bread has a grainier, heavier texture that can't be easily replaced. The density of soda bread is particularly hard to find in more normal bread.

Of course, I've heard it's not actually that hard to make soda bread. It doesn't use Yeast, (uses baking soda, hence the name) so it's not too complicated.

Don't get Soda bread with butter, seeds or raisins in it, they might taste good, but that's not really soda bread. Soda Bread is a more modest simple bread. This recipe seems along the right lines. It's just flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt.

One of Soda Bread's better qualities is that it's excellent roughage. Great for the bowels. When I eat plenty my digestion is always great.

I'm an American that is more than half Irish, ethnically speaking. I have a fondness for Ireland (some great music from there, too!). That link has some Irish cookbooks. Maybe checking out an Irish cookbook is a good idea. I don't know much about real Irish cooking. In fact, it took until sometime in my adult years to find out that the Irish don't actually eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day (they don't even eat it, in general). I was told that a traditional meal in Ireland on St. Patty's Day is a lamb stew or soup (I forget which), with potatoes and onion (I'd like to eat a lamb stew or soup).

I'm an American that is more than half Irish, ethnically speaking. I have a fondness for Ireland (some great music from there, too!). That link has some Irish cookbooks. Maybe checking out an Irish cookbook is a good idea. I don't know much about real Irish cooking. In fact, it took until sometime in my adult years to find out that the Irish don't actually eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day (they don't even eat it, in general). I was told that a traditional meal in Ireland on St. Patty's Day is a lamb stew or soup (I forget which), with potatoes and onion (I'd like to eat a lamb stew or soup).

I don't think there's too many dishes really. If you can master Irish Stew, Soda Bread (and farls), Scones, Potato farls, and all the usual ways of making potatoes, you're pretty much there. Irish cooking is fine for everyday cooking, but it's a bit bland otherwise. Though certain elements (in my case Soda Bread) are great.

I'd say the trickiest thing is actually making decent potatoes. Getting the timing right, selecting the right potatoes for the right dish, tricky. No real recipe for good potatoes, you just need to make them a lot.

As for corned beef and cabbage, it is unheard of in Ireland, though there is the thematically similar Bacon and Cabbage. Otherwise, I don't actually think there is a traditional St. Patrick's dish. Traditionally, Patrick's day was more of a religious holiday rather then a festive one, and stew is far too modest a dish for such an occasion. I'd say something like a Sunday roast would have been more typical, which is not a particularly distinct dish.

So you said earlier in this thread that, unfairly, British cuisine has a bad reputation, but that Irish cuisine isn't all that good. So would England have the best cuisine in the UK? Also, how is Scottish cuisine? In between English and Irish cuisine?

Some questions about Ireland. There is Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the UK? Ireland stands apart from it? Am I getting this right? Where is Belfast and where is Dublin?

I'm wondering what do you usually eat for lunch? For the past year or so, I skipped lunch entirely on weekdays and I've never eaten breakfast routinely. I'm moving to the healthier side of things after a horrific past year. On weekends sometimes I was cheap enough to eat for cereal breakfast, lunch, and dinner which ended up doing a number of my digestive system for the following week.

I was thinking of packing a hot lunch waking up early in the morning before I headed off to class. I am not fond of campus food.

You mustn't skip breakfast. Breakfast is essential, because it will help to stabilise blood sugar levels, which in turn regulate appetite and energy. Also, you won't risk overeating because you will be less likely to be hungry during the rest of the day. Whole grain cereal is the healthiest option for breakfast.

For lunch, if you don't want to cook the night before, or you find it bothersome, make sandwiches. I make all sorts of sandwiches, from egg to ham to cucumber to etc,etc. I usually eat them with one fruit. If you are up for it, a simple packed lunch of plain rice and two side dishes will do. For instance, stir fry veges and boiled egg.

__________________

A politically ignorant person who embraces only hedonism as the main philosophical doctrine.

So you said earlier in this thread that, unfairly, British cuisine has a bad reputation, but that Irish cuisine isn't all that good. So would England have the best cuisine in the UK? Also, how is Scottish cuisine? In between English and Irish cuisine?

Can't really comment on Scottish cuisine. My gut instinct is to say English cuisine is probably better, but I don't really have anything other then it's reputation to go on, and that could be wrong (much like England's reputation is wrong).

Quote:

Some questions about Ireland. There is Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the UK? Ireland stands apart from it? Am I getting this right? Where is Belfast and where is Dublin?

Due to various historical factors, the population of Ulster is largely Scottish and Presbyterian in origin, while the rest of the island is Irish and Catholic. There was(and still is) a lot of (not entirely unjustified)paranoia among Ulster Scots that if Ireland were an independent state it would be dominated by the Catholic Church. So the Northern Irish remained staunchly unionist, while the other 3 provinces(for complicated historical reasons) went separatist. End result is that Ireland declared independence, while Ulster chose to remain in the Union.

Belfast is in Northern Ireland, Dublin is in the Republic. Both are on the east coast of the island, and there's about 165 km distance between the two.

As an aside, many Americans claim to be "Scotch-Irish", this means they are descended from Ulster Scots who chose to emigrate to America. Unsurprisingly, most Scotch-Irish are Presbyterian or Protestant.

Since you are just getting used to cooking may I suggest something you should always keep around, package ramen. First off almost never use the whole seasoning pack that comes with it, use half at the most. The reason I am suggesting to always have it around is because it is versatile, need a quick side dish, boil, drain and add whatever for a quick noodle dish. As a soup you can put a ton of stuff in it to make a meal, a hard boiled egg just slice and go, left over steak, chicken just slice it up and throw it in, as well as a variety of vegetables can all be used in it.

It's baking time! Now that I have stopped working, I have plenty of free time to bake. I started first with almond london, my all-time favourite cookie. The chocolate part was a bit messy of course, but it was worth it.

Then nestum cookies:

__________________

A politically ignorant person who embraces only hedonism as the main philosophical doctrine.